Bonds of Blood [Lords of the Expanse] (Siren Publishing Classic) (12 page)

Her vocabulary was disintegrating slowly, a sure sign that she was close to the edge. Pressing a kiss to her jaw, he slid his tongue over her skin, tasting the faint sheen of sweat her flesh held. “Do you want more?” he asked her, his lips to her ear. He was close to not caring if she said yes or no, but he wasn’t there yet.

Sliding his lips over her skin, he shifted and, moving his hand, he gently pressed his cock into her sopping-wet pussy. Pressing slowly into her tight cunt, he paused as he contacted with the small, thin, weak little barrier inside of her. “Hold on to me, Xandra,” he whispered and, when she clutched at him, he thrust his cock into her as he sank his teeth into her throat.

The moment was there, and when he pressed not only his cock into her slick pussy, but his fangs into her throat, she cried out but moved her legs to wrap tightly around his hips to hold him close, and her fingers bit into his shoulders as she cried out his name in a combination of pain and pleasure.

Her hold on him had his control slipping even more until all he could do was feel. Thrusting into her over and over again, each push harder, he drank from her throat. On that matter, he kept his wits about him, knowing that if he took too much he’d kill her. Suckling softly at her throat, he pushed her body to its limits with his baser animalistic needs.

She moved closer to him. “Andries.” She begged, pleaded with him as her legs tightened around him and tugged him deeper. Her arms wrapped tightly around his head and held him to where he was feeding from her.

Too much, he was taking too much, and that faint, nearly unnoticeable stutter warned him off. Forcing his teeth to retract, he laid his tongue to the twin marks on her throat to help the wounds clot. When he was sure she would perish from bleeding out, he lifted his head to see the marks were sealing. Pressing kisses over her face, he made his way to her lips and then, skipping across to the other side, kissed his way around. “Xandra,” he breathed her name as he kissed her hard.

She was lost to him, his kisses. The reverent way he held and took her was almost loving, and when he breathed her name before kissing her once more, she shuddered her surrender and felt her whole body stiffen as she succumbed to the orgasm that had been building with a force of nature. His lips melded to hers kept her from screaming. Instead she clung to him, and the moaning sound was heard as their bodies slapped together over and over again.

Growling low in his chest, the sound built and moved up his body to pour from him to her. A few more thrusts and he spilled his seed as he followed her into the abyss, his body taut as a wire, and then he sagged over her. Resting his cheek to hers, he closed his eyes as pure feeling, nothing but absolute ecstasy rolled over him again and again. Breathing in her scent and his combined in the air, he knew that she now was truly his in every way, perhaps. For a few minutes he lay over her and then, while he still could, he rolled to his back, keeping her pressed tightly to him as he did so.

Gasping for air, her head on his chest, she ran her hands possessively down his arms and captured his hands with hers. Twining her fingers with his, she lay there until she was finally able to speak. “Thank you, Andries. That was beyond words.” The feeling of him still locked deep inside of her, the knowledge of what they had done, the heat of his body, and his heart thudding against her ear had her eyes drooping sleepily. “Do you need me to move?” She was thinking that if she fell asleep, she didn’t want him to suffer because she was lying on top of him.

“Stay,” he told her in a rough tone. “You weigh nothing and I…like the feel of you lying where you are. Stay,” he said again, moving a hand to touch her back, stroking his fingers slowly over her damp skin. Shifting slightly, he tugged at the blankets that were all askew. Finally he got one untangled for the most part and pulled it up and over them. “Sleep, Xandra. You should rest now.” His tone was just short of an order, the hint of tenderness the only thing that kept it from being too brusque.

Pressing a kiss to his chest, she lay her head back down once more. “All right. Good night, husband,” she whispered softly and let her body relax fully on him. “I very much enjoyed what we did. I would like to do that again, when I’m more awake, please?” She yawned softly and sighed. She didn’t know what one was to say after they had experienced what the two of them shared, so she left it where it was.

Smiling faintly, Andries watched her as she drifted into sleep, and not too long after, he joined her with a feeling of inner peace. Later he’d wonder on that, but at that moment he did not care.

Waking to the feel of lushly warm and sensual female skin, it took Andries a moment to remember where he was and why there was a female in bed with him. Turning his head, he checked the time and realized they needed to get up and moving if he was going to get to the ship before the shift change. “Xandra,” he called to her, pushing her hair from her face and frowning again at seeing the mutilated ear. Her father would pay for that in blood even if he had to wait a lifetime. “Come on, wife. We need to get up and moving, or I won’t be taking you with me for the month I’ll be on the ship.”

Her eyes slowly came open and the frown was evident. “We just went to sleep, Andries,” she grumbled even as she began to move. “And I’m moving, so don’t even take my complaints as me wanting to remain behind, Andries. I wan…” She trailed off. “Wait, did you say month? Well, there is most certainly no way that you are getting away from me for a month, Andries.” Looking up and into his face, her features softened as she reached out to touch his cheek, lightly stroking her fingers over it. “Good morning, husband. Did you sleep well?” The pleasantries came suddenly. The softness of her body was instinctual, but the feelings she had were all hers for him.

“It is evening, wife. That is why you feel as though you just went to sleep. We did,” he told her quietly, watching her under hooded eyes. “We need to go to the shipyard and ensure that my rooms are readied for you as well as all the supplies are taken aboard, and then we are going out for a meal.” Sliding his fingers up her arm to where her hand lay on his cheek, he pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. “I slept quite well, thank you for asking,” he said. “We should get moving though, Xandra. I slept longer than I had originally planned, so we need to dress and get going quickly or the shift will change and I will miss who I need to speak with.” Though at the moment he had no urge at all to move, he realized, lightly rubbing her fingers over his lips.

“I just need a few moments to shower and change. Will that be all right?” Because she didn’t know if leaving while still feeling his hands on her body would be such a good thing for her peace of mind. She wanted him. She needed him, and she never wanted to let him go. The pull to him was so strong she was certain she was going to never be able to allow him to leave her side. “Do you want to shower with me?” She offered quietly, “It will help expedite our getting cleaned up, if you wish?”

“I don’t believe that would be wise, Xandra,” he told her, knowing that it would be very unwise. “We might become distracted,” he explained when her face fell. “We have things to do and I do not intend to ever rush our times together.” Stroking her fingers lightly with one of his, he gave her a hint of a smile. “Go and bathe. I will use the bathroom below stairs and await you there unless you require assistance dressing.”

She looked to be thinking about it a moment and then nodded. “I will. I hate to say it, but the gown that was left that would be appropriate has buttons up the back rather than zip closures, so I would greatly appreciate any help that you are willing to provide me, Andries.”

“I’ll come back up then,” he said softly, kissing her fingers lightly. “Go and clean up. I will be back before you know it,” he told her. “But you do need to move, Xandra.” He didn’t want to hurt her by rolling her over. Besides, he wanted to feel the slide of her skin from his as she moved. It would be torturous, but he still didn’t want to move until she did.

Nodding, she looked down at him and grinned. “Can I kiss you before I leave you?” She shouldn’t have to ask her husband if she could, but she felt as if she had to in that moment, as they were switching from lovers to the people the public saw.

Frowning slightly, he pulled her to him and didn’t answer, just kissed her softly. Rolling over, he continued to kiss her as he settled on top, his hand sliding down her side. Lifting his head, he looked into her eyes. “You never have to ask to kiss me when we are alone,” he murmured softly. “You never have to ask to touch me when we are alone. And you can ask me anything you wish at any time unless I’m on the command deck of my ship and then, if you need something that your escorts or one of the crew can’t help with, ask to speak with me alone. All right?” he asked her softly, his hand slowly stroking her side.

She nodded and smiled. “All right, I will try to keep that in mind.” She would do more than try. She simply had to do as he asked. She wasn’t going to risk having him upset in any way, how, shape, or form. She felt things for him so quickly, and she wanted to continue where they were headed, because she wanted to have more than just that. She wanted to see just how far they could go. “Help me up so that I can go and shower?” Her hand was over his heart and the other was loosely around his back.

Kissing her chin lightly, he shifted off of her and pulled her up slowly to her feet. “Go and do what you need to. I’ll be back in a few moments.” Stepping back, he padded from the room and down the stairs to the secondary bathing room. Stepping into the shower stall, he activated it and stood while the rays did their job. At the small triple beep he stepped back out and headed back up the stairs three minutes after he’d come down.

She moved to the shower slowly and with a frown. There was a pinching pain between her legs, but that’s not what had her nearly flying out the window. It was when she came back from her shower and she looked down at the bed that she gasped and covered her mouth with her shaky hand.

She looked up when he came back and with wide-eyed horror asked, “Did I hurt you, Andries?” She had thought the blood was from him, never recognizing the shower cleaned the blood from her. “Are you hurt?” she repeated.

Moving to her side quickly, Andries took her shaking hands in his and pulled her close as he looked to the sheets. “No, Xandra, it was your first time.” And he should have taken more care of her. “How are you feeling?” he asked, knowing the sonic shower would have cleaned her up and eased most of the aches.

“I feel really wonderful, Andries. However, are you sure?” she asked as she looked up at him. “I knew there was a small pain. However, I never thought—” She stopped talking because she knew what a fool she sounded like. “I should have known. If I had the upbringing I should have, I should have known to expect that, shouldn’t I have?”

“Not necessarily, Xandra. Every woman is different. But you likely would have been told it was a possibility,” he told her as he stepped back slightly. “But you are fine, yes?” he asked, receiving a small nod. “Then we should get dressed and on our way. This”—Andries motioned a hand to the bedding—“is natural, my wife. Do not worry so.”

“All right.” She bit her lip but nodded. “All right, I’m ready to get dressed now, but we should likely pull the bedding off and replace it with fresh so that when we come back, we won’t have to sleep in that.” Her face was bright red, but it wasn’t to be helped.

“Go and dress. I’ll do this, Xandra,” he told her quietly, watching the red of her cheeks, and was strangely fascinated by it. Moving to the bed, he quickly stripped the covers and took them to the laundry chute. Dumping them down it, he turned and saw her still standing there. “Go, Xandra. We’re short on time, wife,” he said again, trying to get her moving. Going to the closet, he quickly got into uniform before he collected clean sheets from the cupboard in there and went to make the bed.

She jumped and moved to the closet on the opposite side of the wall and pulled out the dress the clothier had created for her in what seemed like hours at the time, but turned out to be simple minutes. Tugging on the garment, she adjusted the insides of the silky dark-blue fabric and slipped her arms through the arm holes before turning to him. “All right, now I need your help.” The gown seemed to have been created for her, the color at least. It made her very skin glow and her hair look all the more exotic. Turning her back to him, she pointed to the long row of buttons that marched up the back from the crack of her bottom to the nape of her neck.

Dropping the heavy cover to the bed, the sheets already on, Andries turned to look at her. Moving up behind her, he ran a hand slowly down her spine. Fighting the need to do more by reminding himself that they had things to accomplish, he began to do up the many, many little buttons. “Who in the universe actually believes this many buttons are necessary?” he asked in a low tone as he was bent over to make sure he was getting the buttons into their correct corresponding holes.

“I know!” Xandra said as she looked over her shoulder at him and grinned. “It is perfect though. The colors are perfect for your house, or so I have been told. “If you will, however, make sure that they are all done up, it will be wonderful, please.”

I am working on that nearly insurmountable task, Xandra,” Andries muttered darkly. “And the colors are perfect for our house, my lady, not merely my house any longer,” he pointed out as he straightened to do the last few buttons. “Done,” he told her, stepping back to check and ensure he had not missed any. “We need to go, Xandra,” he told her again, checking the time. It would be close and he’d have to delay the shift he needed for a few moments, but it could not be helped. “Do you require a wrap, or will you be warm enough without?” he asked her as he finished dressing by pulling on his uniform jacket and doing it up carefully.

“There is a wrap in the lower level closet for me.” She turned and grinned. “Our house, that sounds interesting.” She looked at him and nodded. “I am as ready as I will be able to be.” She was nervous, very, very nervous, and felt as if she were walking into something that would potentially cause her headache, but it was past time for her to meet her husband’s men. “I will try to keep in mind that I am not to touch you as we are out, Andries, but don’t be surprised if I do, but I will try not to, all right?”